At Ragsdale & Martin Optical, if you’re comparing apples to apples, we’ll beat anyone’s price.
Buying glasses online has become a cheap, convenient, and incredibly popular way for Americans to get new eyewear since the turn of the century. There were 10 million pairs of glasses sold online in 2018 and that number is expected to increase significantly again in 2019, 2020, and beyond. But should you buy glasses online? The evidence says no.
Assumed Benefits of Buying Glasses Online
- It’s cheap. Most consumers who purchase glasses online spend up to $100 less than what they think is the same pair of glasses in a real optical shop.
- You don’t have to leave your home. While this is true, it’s also a huge disadvantage when it comes to buying glasses that will actually make your vision clearer and protect your eyes.
- You can choose from a variety of options for your lenses. This is also true, but do you know which ones of those options you need? Do you know which of those options could actually be harmful to your eyes? Do you know if those options are even real upgrades that you should pay for? If you don’t have a concrete answer to each of those questions, it would be beneficial for you to have the help of experts, like the staff at Ragsdale & Martin.
Other Disadvantages of Buying Glasses Online That You Probably Don’t Know
- Many lenses in glasses sold online are flat and not properly curved, which means they can create glare on your eyes that proper quality lenses won’t. In addition, if the lenses aren’t exact spherical, you could get vision fatigue and/or headaches from eye strain.
- You don’t know which lenses are best for your If you work at a computer all day, adding a true, high-quality blue light filter to your lenses could make a huge difference in your eyes’ natural daily fatigue. But checking a box on a website for blue light filter lenses doesn’t mean that’s what you’re actually getting. Again, having the help of experts, like the staff at Ragsdale & Martin, is critical to ensuring what you’re paying for is what you actually need and what’s best for your eyes.
- Orders are often inaccurate. A recent study by the American Optometric Association (AOA) found that 44.8% of online glasses orders include the wrong prescription, and many customers don’t even know it.
If your prescription lenses aren’t exactly what you need—even half a point off on the correction—it can increase eye strain and cause headaches or dizziness over a long period of time.
So wouldn’t you want to make sure you’re actually getting what you’re paying for with new glasses? Most people are fooled and don’t even know it.
A recent consumer case study by an ABC News affiliate found that only one out of five glasses ordered online were exactly the right prescription. Of those five, three were slightly off, but not noticeable by the wearer right away, and one wasn’t usable at all.
The same ABC News consumer case study found that all five of those glasses ordered online had flat or warped lenses that weren’t properly curved or spherical.
And what about after you get your glasses? It’s difficult to return prescription glasses ordered online on most websites that sell them, and many websites that sell glasses online don’t offer full refunds for any reason, including error on the part of the seller.
So if they can’t be returned, even for a reasonable cause like seller error, then they definitely don’t come with a warranty, especially for common occurrences like lens scratches.
Oh, and did we mention quality? Websites like Zenni are famous for selling prescription glasses for next to nothing. But many of the frames that are sold at those incredibly low prices are the same quality as disposable glasses frames sold on end racks near the checkouts at late-night pharmacies. What you get is truly what you pay for when it comes to glasses.
Warranties, Refunds, Satisfaction Guaranteed, and More
When you buy your glasses at Ragsdale & Martin, you’ll get a personal touch to ensure your new glasses are perfect and exactly what you need. You’ll also get our satisfaction guarantee, which means you can bring you glasses back to be adjusted until we make them fit exactly like you want them, and make your vision crystal clear.
In addition, every pair of lenses we sell comes with at least a one-year scratch warranty. And if you want even more protection, our Crizal lenses come with a two-year scratch warranty. So if you scratch your lenses, bring them in and you’re covered at Ragsdale & Martin.
But what about price? The biggest reason why people buy glasses online is to save money. But now that you know what you’re ordering online actually isn’t nearly the quality you originally thought, you’re not really saving money at all.
At Ragsdale & Martin, if you’re comparing apples to apples—that is, high quality lenses and frames—we’ll beat anyone’s price.
Should You Buy Glasses Online?
Now that you know exactly what you’re getting when it comes to new glasses, why would you even consider ordering them online? We guarantee that you will get exactly what you need when you get your glasses from Ragsdale & Martin. Call us or come by and you will see the difference.